Use the data tables below to accumulate data from reliable sources about a particular geographical region of Rhode Island. After you have assembled this information, turn it into knowledge by synthesizing a series of sensible paragraphs
Under Rhode Island Kids Count Data by City/Town, click on Fact Sheets
Select your community
Use other sections to collect additional data as needed
Community
Rhode Island
Child population
5,531
247,822
Children in single-parent families
2,654 (48%)
74,346 (30%)
Children living in families below the federal poverty threshold
2,267 (41%)
42,129 (17%)
Teens not in school and not working
940 (17%)
17,347 (7%)
Households with grandparents financially responsible for grandchildren
165 (3%)
9,912 (4%)
Median household income
$22,628
$42,090
Children Living in Two-Parent Households
2,607
160,413
Children Living in Single-Parent Households
2,370
67,978
Public School Enrollment
2,851
143,928
Total Twelfth Grade Enrollment
205
10,466
Additional Info: "Childrens Living Arrangements, Rhode Island, 2000" Table 2. PDF file, Page 11. " Rhode Island Public School Enrollment by Grade and Demographic Groups" Table 31. Page 113. "College Preparation and Access" Table 51. Page 153.
D. Economic Well-Being Indicators
Year data collected: 2000 and 2010
Community
Rhode Island
Food Stamp Program participation
3,270
59,652
School Breakfast Program participation
1,406 (43%)
16,702 (28%)
Cost of Rent
$933
$1,165
Infants Born at Highest Risk
6%
4%
Children in Families Receiving Cash Assistance
8%
4%
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Participation
79%
72%
Birth Mothers With Less Than A High School Diploma
Children With Incarcerated Parents (per 1,000 children)
19.3
10.4
DomesticViolence Incidents With Children
38%
29%
Students Who Have Brought Weapons to School
8%
13%
Students Who Have Experienced Violence at School
5%
12%
Number of Juvenile Arrests for Assault
13
734
Number of Weapons Related Arrests
7
150
Number of Detained Youth ages 13-21(Of 2,625)
3
322
Number of Adjudicated Youth ages 13- 21(Of 2,625)
23
499
Children Present During Domestic Violence Incidents Resulting in Arrests
54 out of 143
1,490 out of 5,086
Additional Info: "Youth Violence, Rhode Island" Table 26. Page 89 -- > "Youth in the Care or Custody of the Rhode Island Training School" Table 27 Page 97. "Children Present During Domestic Violence Incidents Resulting in Arrests" Table 29. Page 101. http://www.rikidscount.org/matriarch/documents/RIKCFactbook2011.pdf
G. Education Indicators
Year data collected: 2010
Community
Rhode Island
Early Intervention Participation
11%
10%
Children in Full-Day Kindergarten
100%
60%
Children Who Are English Language Learners
23%
5%
Students Enrolled in Special Education
25%
17%
4th Graders At or Above the Reading Proficiency Level
58%
69%
8th Graders At or Above the Reading Proficiency Level
53%
74%
4th Graders At or Above the Math Proficiency Level
55%
63%
8th Graders At or Above the Math Proficiency Level
28%
54%
High School Attendance Rate
88%
91%
High School Graduation Rate
51%
76%
Get additional data by accessing “Family and Community”, “Factbook Indicators”, “Create CustomData Reports Using Factbook Data”, or “Factbook Indicators” on the right side of the page.
Use Google Maps or other resources to describe the zip code region, including its boundaries, typography, level of development, etc.
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II. Narrative Description of Community
Use the data you collected above to develop a series of paragraphs that describe your community (zip code) and draw comparisons with the rest of the state and / or district. Here is an example of how to do this.
Central Falls is a small, but central part to the state of Rhode Island. Out of 247,822 people sampled, 5,531 came from Central Falls, making up a solid two percent of the population. It is surrounded by a few parks and is located near Valley Falls Pond. Startingly enough, almost half the children living in Central Falls only have one parental figure, as compared to Rhode Island's total of only thirty percent. Interestingly enough, however, the number of children living in single-parent households is actually lower than Rhose Island; 2,300 compared to Rhode Island's 67,000. Two-Parent households, unfortunately, are also a low 2,600 to Rhode Island's 160,000. Central Falls also has a saddening amount of impoverished children which tips forty-one percent, and it makes up most of Rhode Island's total, which accounts for seventeen percent of the population. Although Central Falls has many hardworking teenagers, seventeen percent drop out and don't work at all. This could be the reason public school enrollment is drastically lower in Central Falls; only 3,000 kids are enrolled in public school as compared to Rhode Island's 140,000. The chances of staying in school drop as the years go on, because only 205 kids were registered for twelfth grade enrollment out of Rhode Island's total 10,000. Because these children who drop out sometimes do not help households could be the reason why the median household income of $22,000 is half of Rhode Island's total $42,000. Luckily, though, the fact that there are less households with grandparents financially responsible for children is positive for Central Falls.
Even if grandparents tend to be less likely to financially support, Central Falls tends to be less financially successful than the total of Rhode Island. Although the participants in the food stamp program are lower than Rhode Island's total by 56,000, a little less than double the amount of chlildren participate in the school breakfast program. Because Rhode Island has a much larger population than Central Falls, Central Falls is a considerably impoverished area. However, the amount of poverty cannot be attributed to rent costs, as the cost of rent is only $933 when Rhode Island has an average of $1,165. Perhaps because of the lack of money and perhaps proper education, six percent of infants are born at highest risk. Because children under eighteen that live under extreme poverty make up almost six percent of Rhode Island's total, and twenty-nine percent of children living under eighteen in poverty are from Central Falls, children in families receiving financial assistance amount to eight percent. The amount of poverty could be attributed to lack of education, as an astonishing thirty-six percent of mothers don't have a high school diploma.
It comes as no surprise, then, that education indicators are low. Even if early intervention participation is a percent higher at Rhode Island with an eleven percent, and children in full-day kindergarten comprise of every child in Central Falls, the amount of education children receive is saddening. It could be attributed to the fact that many children are not fluent in English, as twenty-three percent are currently learning the language. This may also attribute to the low levels or reading proficiency, which never top sixty percent, while in Rhode Island, it is above sixty-nine percent. Math scores are also ranked low in Central Falls; although a little over half of 4th graders are competent in math, only twenty-eight percent of the total amount of 8th graders are proficient in math. In comparison to Rhode Island's total fifty-four percent, this is clearly something that needs to be fixed. However, it could be because a quarter of all students are enrolled in special education and are perhaps not getting the education they need. Although eighty-eight percent of kids attend high school, more than thirty percent of those do not end up graduating.
Healthiness in this area is low compared to the total of Rhode Island. For example, children with high levels of lead in their blood amount to three percent of total children, while the state has a full percent lower. Kids are also more prone to asthma, as seven children out of every thousand are hospitalized for asthma, which is very high compared to the average of four. Perhaps because of this, the need to have children under nineteen receiving medical assistance is increased; as around 4,400 kids get medical assistance. Children are not the only ones that have to worry for their health. Infants, should they live, (as every eleven infants out of a thousand are pronounced dead) have a low birthweight -- over seven percent of infants have a low birthweight. Although it is low compared to Rhode Island's eight percent, it is also a curious statistic because women who received delayed prenatal care amount to almost twenty percent. Receiving late prenatal care could amount to the reason why there is such a high mortality rate, low birthweight percentage, and a low amount of mothers who exclusively breastfeed -- only forty-three percent of Central Falls' mothers do this. It seems high, but against Rhode Island's average of almost sixty percent, it seems drastically low. Perhaps the reason why mothers do not breastfeed is because a large amount of them are teen mothers -- almost a hundred out of every thousand girls give birth! 230 of these births turn out to be preterm as well.
Safety is also an issue in Central Falls. Unfortunately, out of every thousand children, twenty-three are either abused or neglected. It comes as no surprise that the domestic violence rate concerning children is at thirty-eight percent. Due to the influence of incarcerated parents (twenty kids out of every thousand have imprisoned parents) students who bring weapons and experience violence at school are high; though lower in comparison to the total of Rhode Island. Those who bring weapons to school make up eight percent of Central Falls' total, while in Rhode Island, thirteen percent of children bring weapons to school. The kids that perpetuate violence only amount to five percent of Central Falls' children, even if only thirteen kids get a juvenile arrest for assault; while the number of weapon related assault is almost half that. Of 2,600 kids, only three were detained, and twenty-three were adjudicated. Children may not only get this idea from their parents, but from being present in domestic violence -- of 143, fifty-four were present.
Overall, the community for Central Falls can be considered diverse. Although 1,500 people under 18 are white, double that are Hispanic. 292 people under age 18 are African-American, while another 276 are another nationality. The amount of children in total is 5,500. The community does need to improve in areas, especially in comparison to the total of Rhode Island. though it may not seem like the best place to live, many Rhode Islanders call Central Falls their one and only home.
Community: Central Falls
Zip Code: 02863
Authors: Alex Carlson and Melissa Abbate
Use the data tables below to accumulate data from reliable sources about a particular geographical region of Rhode Island. After you have assembled this information, turn it into knowledge by synthesizing a series of sensible paragraphsC. Data from Kids Count
Year data collected: 2000D. Economic Well-Being Indicators
Year data collected: 2000 and 2010E. Health Indicators
Year data collected: 2009-2010F. Safety Indicators
Year data collected: 2009-2010G. Education Indicators
Year data collected: 2010Family and Community
Year data collected: 2000-2010H. Geographical Location
Use Google Maps or other resources to describe the zip code region, including its boundaries, typography, level of development, etc.=
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II. Narrative Description of Community
Use the data you collected above to develop a series of paragraphs that describe your community (zip code) and draw comparisons with the rest of the state and / or district. Here is an example of how to do this.Central Falls is a small, but central part to the state of Rhode Island. Out of 247,822 people sampled, 5,531 came from Central Falls, making up a solid two percent of the population. It is surrounded by a few parks and is located near Valley Falls Pond. Startingly enough, almost half the children living in Central Falls only have one parental figure, as compared to Rhode Island's total of only thirty percent. Interestingly enough, however, the number of children living in single-parent households is actually lower than Rhose Island; 2,300 compared to Rhode Island's 67,000. Two-Parent households, unfortunately, are also a low 2,600 to Rhode Island's 160,000. Central Falls also has a saddening amount of impoverished children which tips forty-one percent, and it makes up most of Rhode Island's total, which accounts for seventeen percent of the population. Although Central Falls has many hardworking teenagers, seventeen percent drop out and don't work at all. This could be the reason public school enrollment is drastically lower in Central Falls; only 3,000 kids are enrolled in public school as compared to Rhode Island's 140,000. The chances of staying in school drop as the years go on, because only 205 kids were registered for twelfth grade enrollment out of Rhode Island's total 10,000. Because these children who drop out sometimes do not help households could be the reason why the median household income of $22,000 is half of Rhode Island's total $42,000. Luckily, though, the fact that there are less households with grandparents financially responsible for children is positive for Central Falls.
Even if grandparents tend to be less likely to financially support, Central Falls tends to be less financially successful than the total of Rhode Island. Although the participants in the food stamp program are lower than Rhode Island's total by 56,000, a little less than double the amount of chlildren participate in the school breakfast program. Because Rhode Island has a much larger population than Central Falls, Central Falls is a considerably impoverished area. However, the amount of poverty cannot be attributed to rent costs, as the cost of rent is only $933 when Rhode Island has an average of $1,165. Perhaps because of the lack of money and perhaps proper education, six percent of infants are born at highest risk. Because children under eighteen that live under extreme poverty make up almost six percent of Rhode Island's total, and twenty-nine percent of children living under eighteen in poverty are from Central Falls, children in families receiving financial assistance amount to eight percent. The amount of poverty could be attributed to lack of education, as an astonishing thirty-six percent of mothers don't have a high school diploma.
It comes as no surprise, then, that education indicators are low. Even if early intervention participation is a percent higher at Rhode Island with an eleven percent, and children in full-day kindergarten comprise of every child in Central Falls, the amount of education children receive is saddening. It could be attributed to the fact that many children are not fluent in English, as twenty-three percent are currently learning the language. This may also attribute to the low levels or reading proficiency, which never top sixty percent, while in Rhode Island, it is above sixty-nine percent. Math scores are also ranked low in Central Falls; although a little over half of 4th graders are competent in math, only twenty-eight percent of the total amount of 8th graders are proficient in math. In comparison to Rhode Island's total fifty-four percent, this is clearly something that needs to be fixed. However, it could be because a quarter of all students are enrolled in special education and are perhaps not getting the education they need. Although eighty-eight percent of kids attend high school, more than thirty percent of those do not end up graduating.
Healthiness in this area is low compared to the total of Rhode Island. For example, children with high levels of lead in their blood amount to three percent of total children, while the state has a full percent lower. Kids are also more prone to asthma, as seven children out of every thousand are hospitalized for asthma, which is very high compared to the average of four. Perhaps because of this, the need to have children under nineteen receiving medical assistance is increased; as around 4,400 kids get medical assistance. Children are not the only ones that have to worry for their health. Infants, should they live, (as every eleven infants out of a thousand are pronounced dead) have a low birthweight -- over seven percent of infants have a low birthweight. Although it is low compared to Rhode Island's eight percent, it is also a curious statistic because women who received delayed prenatal care amount to almost twenty percent. Receiving late prenatal care could amount to the reason why there is such a high mortality rate, low birthweight percentage, and a low amount of mothers who exclusively breastfeed -- only forty-three percent of Central Falls' mothers do this. It seems high, but against Rhode Island's average of almost sixty percent, it seems drastically low. Perhaps the reason why mothers do not breastfeed is because a large amount of them are teen mothers -- almost a hundred out of every thousand girls give birth! 230 of these births turn out to be preterm as well.
Safety is also an issue in Central Falls. Unfortunately, out of every thousand children, twenty-three are either abused or neglected. It comes as no surprise that the domestic violence rate concerning children is at thirty-eight percent. Due to the influence of incarcerated parents (twenty kids out of every thousand have imprisoned parents) students who bring weapons and experience violence at school are high; though lower in comparison to the total of Rhode Island. Those who bring weapons to school make up eight percent of Central Falls' total, while in Rhode Island, thirteen percent of children bring weapons to school. The kids that perpetuate violence only amount to five percent of Central Falls' children, even if only thirteen kids get a juvenile arrest for assault; while the number of weapon related assault is almost half that. Of 2,600 kids, only three were detained, and twenty-three were adjudicated. Children may not only get this idea from their parents, but from being present in domestic violence -- of 143, fifty-four were present.
Overall, the community for Central Falls can be considered diverse. Although 1,500 people under 18 are white, double that are Hispanic. 292 people under age 18 are African-American, while another 276 are another nationality. The amount of children in total is 5,500. The community does need to improve in areas, especially in comparison to the total of Rhode Island. though it may not seem like the best place to live, many Rhode Islanders call Central Falls their one and only home.